A Fifth Dimension:Point of view
Articles in A Fifth Dimension are written from several points of view (POV). Neutral point of view Like , all A Fifth Dimension articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view. This means "representing fairly, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views that have been published by reliable sources."Wikipedia contributors. "Wikipedia:Neutral point of view." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Version: 2009-05-07. Retrieved: 2009-05-25. This is expected of all editors and all articles in the wiki. One may not agree personally with such perspectives but this is not a message board, this is an encylcopedia with the goal of being precise and thorough. Articles containing a point of view that is documented and verifiable are not open to editor consensus, no matter how unpopular a point of view may be. "We should describe disputes, not engage in them."Wikipedia contributors. "Wikipedia:Neutral point of view." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Version: 2009-05-07. Retrieved: 2009-05-25. For guidance on how to make an article conform to the neutral point of view or for examples and explanations that illustrate key aspects of this policy, see the article on neutral point of view. The netural point-of-view is not an alternative to either in-universe or real world perpsectives, but is an overarching expectancy of all articles, regardless of which side of fiction they fall on. Its application is to remove bias, rather than establish character. In-universe point of view A Fifth Dimension's default point of view is that of a character inside the fictional Twilight Zone universe – perhaps from the viewpoint of the Narrator. The Twilight Zone universe articles should be written as if the described person, object, or event actually existed or occurred, exactly like in a normal encyclopedia, but with an omniscient perspective. Think of A Fifth Dimension as an encyclopedia that exists in the The Twilight Zone universe. Use: :"... Walter Bedeker was a hypochondriac who cared more about his own health than the people in his life..." Instead of: :"... Walter Bedeker was a character in the sixth episode of The Twilight Zone (Original Series)..." Tense Because The Twilight Zone stories take place in many different eras, from the Triassic period (The Odyssey of Flight 33) to the 20th Century (The Purple Testament) and even the future (Elegy), and because forthcoming stories may even expand beyond that, it is important to write all articles from a single perspective: i.e. that of someone looking back at the past. This helps to keep A Fifth Dimension consistent and understandable. If it helps, pretend that we're writing and viewing this data archive long after the Twilight Zone universe as we know it has ceased to exist. This means using the past tense in almost all instances. There are a few exceptions to this rule, and they include: # For "eternal" concepts, such as ideas, they may be qualified with a time setting, thus placing them into context. For example, the idea of biology is "eternal", but specific references to it are not. # Species and Character articles should be written in past tense. # Articles about particular astronomical features (such as stars, star systems, and nebulae, but not planets) should be written in present tense. Some examples of how tense should be used for in-universe articles: :"Romney Wordsworth was declared obselete by an oppressive totalitarian state." :"Peaksville was a town located in the state of Ohio in the United States of America until the 20th Century." :"World War II was an international war that occurred on Earth during the 1940's." :"Death is inevitable in most places, but not in The Twilight Zone." :"Mars is a planetary body in the local solar system of the planet Earth." The tense that should be used is simple past tense. Usage of the conditional is incorrect, such as: :"Later, Christian Horn, Jr. would become a doctor after administration of the penicillin that had been acquired by his father." This sentence should be structured as: :"Later, Christian Horn, Jr. became a doctor after administration of the penicillin that had been acquired by his father." The proper, and indeed only, use of the conditional is with an if-then type syntax, such as: :"Christian Horn, Jr. would have died if not for the the penicillin that had been acquired by his father." In that example, an event "would" have been possible, if something else had happened – in this case, if Christian Horn had not been able to get medicine for his sick son. Citing sources and background information Due to its nature, all background information, apocrypha, and citations of the sources used naturally occurs outside the POV. Background information and apocrypha is considered to fall under the "real world" POV and, as such, should be restricted to the appropriate sections. See the Manual of Style for more information. See Cite your sources for information on how to cite your sources in episodes. Undisclosed information There are some cases in The Twilight Zone stories in which it was made clear that certain information is highly classified (e.g., top secret experiments in ), or entirely unknown due to changes in the time stream (e.g., Joey Crown's rewritten destiny in ), time travel (e.g., the people of the future in had no idea who or when Farwell came from), reality shifts (e.g., ), occurrences on alien planets with no means of communication (e.g., ) or similar plot twists. Sometimes—and perhaps most often— the events simply happened in isolation. While in theory these things are not known to anyone within the Twilight Zone universe, A Fifth Dimension's POV is all-knowing, just like the television viewer. Conflicts in valid resources If there are subjects that have conflicting references in the stories, simply add all the given information, and optionally add a background note explaining that there is a conflict. Similarly, if two subjects have very similar names, that conceivably could have been meant to be the same, create both articles and hint at the similarity in background notes. Real world point of view The production or "real world" point of view applies to articles about the The Twilight Zone franchise and production (eg. articles on books, episodes, series, comics, actors, staff, etc.), which naturally are not part of the The Twilight Zone universe. All such articles should have the template at the top. Tense should be the same as a standard encyclopedia in the present day. Some examples of how tense should be used for production articles: :"Richard Matheson was a writer for The Twilight Zone (Original Series)." :"The Twilight Zone is a science fiction franchise comprising three television series, two films plus numerous books, comics, games, and collectibles." Episode articles Articles concerning The Twilight Zone stories (i.e., episodes, films, novels, short stories, and comics) are a special case. Although they are covered by the production point of view, summary sections are written from an in-universe point of view and may be written in either present or past tense —past would be more consistent with the in-universe POV, of course. Use: :"Chester and Paula look over the loot from the robbery of an antique shop that lies strewn about their hotel room." (present tense) or :"Back in their hotel room, Chester and Paula looked over the loot that they have amassed from the robbery of an antique shop." (past tense) Instead of: :"The episode begins with the characters of Chester and Paula looking over the loot from their robbery of an antique shop." Other sections, including the infobox/sidebar and background information sections, should be written in a standard production (real world) point of view. As a result of this, epsiode/story articles are classified as articles (this flag should be provided by the specific infobox template automatically). Maintenance pages Articles concerning the functioning of A Fifth Dimension fall outside of either point of view. These include the Main Page, pages in "The Twilight Zone Wiki:", "A Fifth Dimension:", "Template:", "Help:" and "User:" namespaces, and all talk pages. Related pages * Cite your sources * Establish context * Guide to Layout * Manual of Style * , a template to flag articles written from the real world point of view * , a template to flag articles written from a non-neutral point of view. Notes and references Notes Category:A Fifth Dimension Policies